I don’t talk about my problems to anybody: Alia Bhatt

Being clear-cut in thoughts and execution is something the average millenial sorely lacks. Armed with an acute awareness of her own traits, Alia Bhatt is sure of her craft and the fact that being as young as she is, there are going to be people who don’t take her seriously. Her Dear Zindagi releases today and sees her getting advice from Shah Rukh Khan. Not a conventional pairing for sure, it also gives us the opportunity to ask her about her own take on the casting, working with Gauri Shinde, the stigma around visiting shrinks in India and more...

Was it a breeze shooting for Dear Zindagi, coming off Udta Punjab?

Not really, in fact not at all. Udta was difficult for different reasons but my part in Dear Zindagi was also a very difficult one to play though it was easily relatable. In DZ, I had to convey a very simple emotion with this character. I didn’t have the crutches of a girl getting abducted and raped. I had a simple story that I needed to follow, a simple character graph that I needed to build, so in that case, it was not easy.

You’re working with a female director for the first time.

Yes. And what I really liked about Gauri is that she’s very real and straightforward and the same goes for her work. There’s no fakeness. She knows exactly what she wants and is very focused. The great thing is that before we started shooting, I understood my character and we were both on the same page. She didn’t have to really tell me beyond a point what to do. We had this amazing sync. And the few times I wasn’t able to carry it for some reason she would say just one thing and it would push the right button. She would say ‘Just think about this’ and it would happen. She knew the right things to say. Many a time I would know that this would be an okay take and we could move on to the next scene.

Did you sign the film because it had Shah Rukh in it?

(Laughs) No… Uh…huh. Shah Rukh wasn’t event on board at that time. The no-fuss, simple story and concept drew me to it.

Why does your character need a psychiatrist or a shrink? Also, in India shrinks are not looked kindly upon....

I don’t want to put too much focus on the fact that the film is about a girl going to a psychiatrist. As you rightly said, people here don’t understand therapy, the fact that you need help from a third person who is a stranger whom you need to pay for help. So let’s not talk about all that. What this film is about is the fact that we all have questions in life and most times we don’t have answers. And sometimes we need answers from neutral people. This film is about the journey of finding those answers and as Shah Rukh’s character says, “It’s about finding simple joys in an imperfect life.” That’s the essence of the film.

In real life who’s your go-to person when you need advice?

I am a very secretive person. I don’t talk about my problems to anybody. But I have different people that I speak to. Eventually, though, I end up listening to myself only. So even if I ask people for advice and they give it, I may not listen to them as it’s my ‘you’ that takes over. Sometimes, it’s important to hear the right thing at the right time.       

What connects you to your character Kayra in the film?

A lot of things — the fact that she’s very moody, a little grey, she’s not a typically correct person but yet a very sensitive person. Even I am a very sensitive person.

You have three guys romancing you in the movie — so were you the most pampered person on the sets being the solo girl?

We didn’t always have all the boys on the sets at once so it wasn’t like a boy-fest with just one girl (laughs), but I get pampered on every Dharma set or every set that I have worked in… People always pamper and take care of me…

You give the impression of being fragile and delicate…That you need looking after.

(Butts in) Fragile, I don’t know... but sensitive, yes! I give people the impression that I need looking after, I let people believe that so they feel happy (her eyes twinkle) but actually I don’t need to be. I can and do take care of myself pretty well.

SRK advises you in the film. Off the sets have you given him any advice?

I gave him advice on how to up his Instagram game and he totally took it. I told him he could get better with his Instagram and he’s been killing it while shooting for The Ring. I messaged him also that he’s doing it so well now. I guess I am a good teacher! (Laughs) Of course, he insists that he always had this talent for Instagram but he was hiding it from the world because he didn’t want the world to see his talent.

ALIA IN THE SHRINK’S CHAIR

On advice she’d give these stars

Kangana Ranaut: I don’t know her. Don’t know what advice I can give her.

Varun Dhawan: To just believe in himself and not ask for so many takes again and again.

Arjun Kapoor: I think he should be giving advice as he’s very good at giving it. But I think it’s high time Arjun got himself a girlfriend. I keep telling him that he can’t be alone all the time, he needs to find love and be in a relationship.

Ranveer Singh: I would advise Ranveer to teach other people his ability to remain so joyful and so in love with himself. People can use that as self-love is very important and he needs to spread that.

Sidharth Malhotra: To be a little nonsensical. While he can be perky and fun, he just needs not to make sense just for one day because he makes too much sense always, according to me.

Karan Johar: He needs to take a long vacation, just chill and de-stress, take a massage and eat food. Karan needs to just relax.

Mahesh Bhatt: He needs to try and not have an opinion for a day and let’s see how that goes.

Sonam Kapoor: Sonam is fab! I love her. She needs no advice from anybody!

Shah Rukh Khan: He can also take a break. I think he’s not taken one in years. He won’t like it because if I understand him, he loves his work but he can take a holiday and go somewhere with AbRam.